although some gender discriminatory provisions would still prevail, even if the Bill is adopted without further amendment. 49. The Amendment Bill provides that: a. A child born to a Nepali citizen mother who is residing in Nepal can obtain citizenship by descent. b. A child whose parents cannot be identified can also acquire citizenship by descent. c. A child born to a Nepali citizen mother and foreign father can acquire naturalised citizenship even if not born on the territory. d. A foreign woman married to a Nepali man now apply for naturalised citizenship after 7 years, with certain conditions. 50. However, as set out above, proof that another citizenship has not been obtained, or proof of renunciation of a previous citizenship, must be provided. This makes it difficult to apply for citizenship as such documents may not be available in many countries. 51. Moreover, a foreign woman married to a Nepali man before the 7 years has passed will receive a permanent residence permit, which can be revoked if the individual is found to have acted against Nepal’s independence, sovereignty, geographical integrity and national interest. This can lead to statelessness. 52. Despite these developments, the Amendment Bill has still not been passed and debate is currently postponed until the 2020 winter session. 53. Moreover, any amendment to the Nepal Citizenship Act must not be inconsistent with Constitutional provisions. Consequently, discrimination will only be legally eradicated pursuant to further Constitutional reform which addresses the contradictions in the Constitution. 54. The delay to the Amendment Bill has resulted in many people who could be eligible for citizenship either being made stateless or at risk of statelessness. Suraj Hazare Dahal, for example, is a 30-year-old stateless individual born to a Nepali mother and foreign father in Pokhara.37 He was refused citizenship since children born to a Nepali mother and foreign father are required to provide proof that citizenship of the father’s country has not been acquired. Suraj went to the Home Ministry to try and apply for naturalisation, but was denied entry due to lack of citizenship. He then went to the Indian embassy but they turned him away since “the embassy is only concerned with Indian citizens”. He remains stateless and awaits the passing of the Amendment Bill. ISSUE 2 - Discriminatory Access to Documentation 55. In addition to Nepal’s nationality laws being discriminatory, they are also implemented in a discriminatory manner, which leads to increased difficulty of accessing documentation for women and children. Indeed, as set out in paragraph 27 above, in 2017, over 5.4 million people in Nepal did not have citizenship documentation. 56. The difficulty of obtaining documentation can in part be attributed to the arbitrary levels of discretion applied by relevant authorities and district administrations, comprised of mostly males, who frequently deny women and their children documentation due to discriminatory 37 Case study provided by the Citizenship Affected People’s Network, Nepal. 9